The female MMA G.O.A.T Amanda Nunes appears to be on the verge of a sensational comeback to the UFC after showing up to watch a UFC 316 press conference yesterday in Miami that features a bantamweight title fight between current champion Julianna Pena and Kayla Harrison.
During the presser, Dana White was asked whether the 36-year-old ‘Lioness’ would fight again, at which point he looked over at Nunes in the crowd and smiled while saying “she just said yes!”
The camera then cut to the former two-division champion smiling and nodding vigorously in agreement as the crowd cheered loudly.
One person who wasn’t overly happy to see her was her rival and current champ Julianna Pena, who went on to accuse her of trying to duck a trilogy fight between them.
“Booing her in Canada was right because I knew that she was retiring too early, just like Dana said, and just like you are all seeing,” Pena told the crowd. “She’s not done, she’s just sitting there on the sidelines because she didn’t want to fight that trilogy fight like I was asking for.”
Pena had shocked the world back in 2021 when she beat Nunes by submission at UFC 269 to end her 12-fight winning streak and seize the bantamweight title.
However, Nunes avenged that defeat the following year with a convincing unanimous decision victory over Pena to reclaim the belt, and went on to defend it twice more before retiring in June of 2023.
Pena has since gone on to become champion again by defeating Raquel Pennington in a fight for the vacant belt last October.
Meanwhile, Harrison arrived in the UFC in late 2023 with a big reputation, having already been a two-time Olympic judo gold medalist and two-time lightweight grand-prix winner in the PFL promotion.
The 31-year-old Harrison has since gone on to win back-to-back fights against Holly Holm and Ketlen Vieira to take her career record to 18-1 and earn a shot at the title.
The return of Nunes is huge news for women’s MMA and whether it’s Pena or Harrison who wins at UFC 316, it’ll set the stage for a major bantamweight title showdown with her in the future.
Watch the moment Nunes confirmed she intends to come back out of retirement below.
